Tag Archives: TechCrunch

Google is testing a new feature that will surface Instagram and TikTok videos in their own dedicated carousel in the Google app for mobile devices — a move that could help the company retain users in search of social video entertainment from fully leaving Google’s platform. The feature itself expands on a test launched earlier this year, where Google had first introduced a carousel of “Short Videos” within Google Discover  — the personalized feed found in the Google mobile… Source link

Google is currently under fire for apparently pushing out a researcher whose work warned of bias in AI, and now a report from Reuters says others doing such work at the company have been asked to “strike a positive tone” and undergo additional reviews for research touching on “sensitive topics.” Reuters, citing researchers at the company and internal documents, reports that Google has implemented new controls in the last year, including an extra round of inspection for papers… Source link

Indian startup Glance, which serves news, media content, and games on the lock screen of over 100 million smartphones, has a new investor: Google. The two-year-old Glance, which is part of advertising giant InMobi Group, said on Tuesday that it has raised $145 million in a new financing round from Google and existing investor Mithril Partners. The new round values Glance at over $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said, making the startup a… Source link

The Justice Department’s historic lawsuit against Google is moving along — albeit very, very slowly. In a status hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta set a tentative date for the case. The good news and the bad news for both parties involved is that it’s more than two years away. As CNBC reports, Mehta chose September 12, 2023 as the first day of the trial, which is expected to last weeks. That date could change, but with both the Justice Department and Google agreeing… Source link

Europe has greenlit Google’s $2.1BN acquisition of fitness wearable maker Fitbit, applying a number of conditions intended to shrink competition concerns over letting it gobble a major cache of health and wellness data following months of regulatory scrutiny of the deal. While Google announced its plan to buy Fitbit over a year ago, it only notified the transaction to the Commission on June 15, 2020 — meaning it’s taken half a year to be given a caveated go-ahead by Europe. It is… Source link

If you’ve ever used a Snapchat or Instagram filter, you know that one of the popular use cases for AR (augmented reality) is to change up your appearance with virtual makeup — like a different shade of lipstick or eyeshadow, for example. Today, Google is moving into this space, as well, with the launch of an AR-powered cosmetics try-on experience on Google Search. The company is working in partnership with top brands like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics, Black Opal and… Source link

A few weeks after announcing that iOS support was on the way, Google’s cloud gaming service now supports the iPhone and iPad. As expected, the company is using a web app to access the service. Google also says that you need to update to iOS 14.3, the latest iOS update that was released earlier this week. If you want to try it out with a free or paid Stadia account, you can head over to stadia.google.com from your iOS device. Log in to your Google account, add a shortcut to your home… Source link

Google Photos is rolling out a series of updates to its Memories feature, which surfaces your best photos from years past. Over the next month, Memories will be expanded to include 3D Cinematic photos, updated collage designs, and new types of Memories, the company says. These “new types” of Memories may include those of the most important people in your life or your favorite things — like sunsets, activities such as baking or hiking, or whatever else seems to matter most to you,… Source link

The Nest Hub Max is getting Zoom . Google outlined the arrival of the popular teleconferencing platform in a blog post today, noting that it has started to roll out for users in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia. The much-requested feature is arriving as an “early preview,” essentially meaning that users will have to opt-in to receive the firmware prior to wide release — though the company insists that it’s not a software beta, offering essentially the same experience as the… Source link

It’s not nearly on the same scale as Google’s outage earlier today, but it turns out that Microsoft’s Outlook email service has been having problems, too. Readers are reporting to us, and an update on Microsoft’s site status for its various Office services confirms, that some Outlook users may not be able to sign in and use their email on Outlook.com because of a glitch in its Active Directory infrastructure. It is not clear how many users are affected but it is definitely not… Source link